conquered her stubborn spirit as nothing else could have done.
Angelo closed the door on her and rang the country hotel he had checked into late the night before. Within minutes he was ushering Flora’s paying guests out to his limousine and instructing his driver to take them to the hotel for their breakfast. Everybody more than happy with that new arrangement, he returned to Flora and explained what he had done.
Flora studied him with thoughtful green eyes, reluctantly impressed by his adroit handling of the situation. She would have enjoyed seeing him wielding a frying pan in her kitchen, but the shrewd organisational and negotiating skills he had just displayed were in all probability basic van Zaal business traits.
‘I appreciate that I know very little about pregnant women,’ Angelo said with enormous tact, keeping quiet about his current bedside reading, which would in fact have proved that he knew much more about being pregnant than Flora did. ‘And naturally I’ve heard of morning sickness, but I really don’t think it’s normal for you to be feeling this ill. You should see a doctor.’
‘I already have,’ Flora sighed wearily, turning over and tucking her hand below her cheek as she made herself as comfortable as possible. ‘My GP says that somewomen suffer like this and that hopefully it will slacken off soon.’
‘I would still like you to agree to see Natalie again,’ Angelo imparted.
Already drifting off to sleep, Flora gave him a rare nod of assent, pathetically willing to consult anyone who might have the power to make her condition a little more bearable. Right at that moment, she felt as though her pregnancy had taken over her entire life, sapping the energy and confidence that she had always taken for granted.
His big powerful frame alive with brooding tension, Angelo watched her sleep, his lean dark features set in tough lines and his jaw at an aggressive angle. He lifted a throw lying folded on a chair and shook it out to cover her up. Then he stepped out again to contact Natalie on his mobile phone and share his concerns. Nothing his friend said soothed his apprehension on Flora’s behalf.
Flora wakened when Angelo touched her shoulder and gazed straight up into azure-blue eyes surrounded by swirling ebony lashes. Her heart skipped a whole beat inside her chest. ‘How long have I been asleep?’
‘About two hours. I’m only waking you now because Natalie wants to see you this afternoon,’ he explained.
‘Have I got time for a shower?’ Flora sat up very slowly, too well aware that sudden movements were likely to bring on dizziness and nausea.
Freshening up with a shower lifted Flora’s spirits. As she got dressed she reflected that, although she had lost weight in recent weeks, her shape had changed and not for the better. With her trousers already refusingto button at her waist, she donned recent purchases, a skirt with a partially elasticated waist and a top in a larger size than she usually wore. Even though it was early in her pregnancy, her breasts had already swelled by a couple of cup sizes and her waist seemed to be vanishing even faster. Reflecting on those unwelcome alterations to her body, Flora grimaced, deciding that what attraction she had possessed was now very much on the wane. Praying that the sickness would remain at bay, she joined Angelo in the limousine.
‘Why were you trying to cater to so many people without help?’ Angelo asked her then.
A few weeks earlier, Sharon Martin, Flora’s parttime employee, had been diagnosed with cancer and the older woman was currently undergoing treatment. Flora had not managed to find a replacement for Sharon and, reluctant to cancel bookings at short notice, she had contrived as best she could to manage alone.
‘It’s been a struggle,’ she admitted reluctantly.
‘Yet you still found the time to spend several days in Amsterdam with Mariska,’ Angelo remarked.
‘She’s so young. If I don’t make the
Angelo closed the door on her and rang the country hotel he had checked into late the night before. Within minutes he was ushering Flora’s paying guests out to his limousine and instructing his driver to take them to the hotel for their breakfast. Everybody more than happy with that new arrangement, he returned to Flora and explained what he had done.
Flora studied him with thoughtful green eyes, reluctantly impressed by his adroit handling of the situation. She would have enjoyed seeing him wielding a frying pan in her kitchen, but the shrewd organisational and negotiating skills he had just displayed were in all probability basic van Zaal business traits.
‘I appreciate that I know very little about pregnant women,’ Angelo said with enormous tact, keeping quiet about his current bedside reading, which would in fact have proved that he knew much more about being pregnant than Flora did. ‘And naturally I’ve heard of morning sickness, but I really don’t think it’s normal for you to be feeling this ill. You should see a doctor.’
‘I already have,’ Flora sighed wearily, turning over and tucking her hand below her cheek as she made herself as comfortable as possible. ‘My GP says that somewomen suffer like this and that hopefully it will slacken off soon.’
‘I would still like you to agree to see Natalie again,’ Angelo imparted.
Already drifting off to sleep, Flora gave him a rare nod of assent, pathetically willing to consult anyone who might have the power to make her condition a little more bearable. Right at that moment, she felt as though her pregnancy had taken over her entire life, sapping the energy and confidence that she had always taken for granted.
His big powerful frame alive with brooding tension, Angelo watched her sleep, his lean dark features set in tough lines and his jaw at an aggressive angle. He lifted a throw lying folded on a chair and shook it out to cover her up. Then he stepped out again to contact Natalie on his mobile phone and share his concerns. Nothing his friend said soothed his apprehension on Flora’s behalf.
Flora wakened when Angelo touched her shoulder and gazed straight up into azure-blue eyes surrounded by swirling ebony lashes. Her heart skipped a whole beat inside her chest. ‘How long have I been asleep?’
‘About two hours. I’m only waking you now because Natalie wants to see you this afternoon,’ he explained.
‘Have I got time for a shower?’ Flora sat up very slowly, too well aware that sudden movements were likely to bring on dizziness and nausea.
Freshening up with a shower lifted Flora’s spirits. As she got dressed she reflected that, although she had lost weight in recent weeks, her shape had changed and not for the better. With her trousers already refusingto button at her waist, she donned recent purchases, a skirt with a partially elasticated waist and a top in a larger size than she usually wore. Even though it was early in her pregnancy, her breasts had already swelled by a couple of cup sizes and her waist seemed to be vanishing even faster. Reflecting on those unwelcome alterations to her body, Flora grimaced, deciding that what attraction she had possessed was now very much on the wane. Praying that the sickness would remain at bay, she joined Angelo in the limousine.
‘Why were you trying to cater to so many people without help?’ Angelo asked her then.
A few weeks earlier, Sharon Martin, Flora’s parttime employee, had been diagnosed with cancer and the older woman was currently undergoing treatment. Flora had not managed to find a replacement for Sharon and, reluctant to cancel bookings at short notice, she had contrived as best she could to manage alone.
‘It’s been a struggle,’ she admitted reluctantly.
‘Yet you still found the time to spend several days in Amsterdam with Mariska,’ Angelo remarked.
‘She’s so young. If I don’t make the
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